Current through Bulletin 2024-06, March 15, 2024
(1) The
meeting shall be called to order by the Committee Chair.
(2) The Committee Chair shall swear in the
parties.
(3) The petitioner and
respondent are allowed up to 15 minutes to present their case. Either party may
request more time from the Chair at the hearing.
(a) The petitioner's and governmental
entity's cases may consist of testimony, argument, relevant evidence, and any
relevant witnesses.
(b) Witnesses
providing testimony shall be sworn in by the Committee Chair.
(c) Questioning of the witnesses and parties
by Committee members is permitted.
(4)
(a) If
the appeal involves proper classification of a record, the governmental entity
must bring the disputed records to the hearing to allow the Committee to view
records in camera if it deems an in camera inspection necessary pursuant to
Subsection
63G-2-403(9).
(b) If the records withheld are voluminous or
the governmental entity contends they have not been identified with reasonable
specificity, the governmental entity shall notify the Committee via the
Executive Secretary at least seven days before the hearing and obtain approval
from the Committee Chair to bring a representative sample of the potentially
responsive records to the hearing, if it is possible to do so.
(c) Records provided by the governmental
entity for in camera review by the Committee remain in the custody of the
governmental entity. Records for in camera review are retained by the Committee
for only the period of in camera review and are returned to the governmental
entity or destroyed, provided they are not the record copy, at the conclusion
of the in camera review.
(5) Third party presentations may be
permitted. No later than three days before the hearing, the third party shall
notify the Executive Secretary of their intent to present. Third party
presentations are limited to three minutes, and will be presented before
closing arguments.
(6) Closing
arguments may be presented by the petitioner and the governmental entity. Each
party shall be allowed up to five minutes to present a closing argument and
make rebuttal statements.
(7)
(a) After the conclusion of the closing
arguments, the Committee shall start deliberations. A Committee Member shall
make a motion described in the list under Subsection
R35-1-5(1). The
Committee shall vote and make public the decision of the Committee during the
hearing.
(b) In the event of a tie
vote, the Committee Chair shall ask if the Committee wishes to continue
deliberation. If so, deliberation continues and another motion may be made. If
a tie vote occurs a second time, the Chair shall withdraw their vote to break
the tie.
(8) At any
time, the Committee may adjourn, reschedule, continue, or reopen a hearing on
the motion of a member.
(9) Except
as expressly authorized by law, there shall be no communication between the
parties and the members of the Committee concerning the subject matter of the
appeal before the hearing or before the issuance of an Order. Any other oral or
written communication from the parties to the members of the Committee, or from
the members of the Committee to the parties, shall be directed to the Executive
Secretary for transmittal.
(10) The
following provisions govern any meeting at which one or more members of the
Committee or a party appears telephonically or electronically, pursuant to
Section 52-4-207.
(a) The anchor location is the physical
location from which the electronic meeting originates as indicated on the
public notice.
(b) Public notices
of the meeting shall show if one or more Committee members or parties may be
participating electronically or telephonically. In addition, the notice shall
specify the anchor location where the members of the Committee not
participating electronically or telephonically will be meeting and where
interested persons and the public may attend and monitor the open portions of
the meeting.
(c) When notice is
given of the possibility of a member of the Committee appearing electronically
or telephonically, any member of the Committee may do so and shall be counted
as present for purposes of a quorum and may fully participate and vote on any
matter coming before the Committee. At the commencement of the meeting, or at
such time as any member of the Committee initially appears electronically or
telephonically, the Committee Chair shall identify for the record each of those
who are appearing telephonically or electronically. When conducting a meeting
with any Board members participating telephonically or electronically, the
Committee Chair will take votes by roll call.
(11)
(a)
Pursuant to Subsection
63G-2-401(5)(c)
a petitioner may request a postponement of a hearing, with the consensus of the
governmental entity. If the petitioner wishes to postpone the hearing or
withdraw the appeal, the petitioner shall notify the Committee via the
Executive Secretary and the governmental entity in writing no later than five
days before the scheduled hearing date.
(b) The Committee Chair has the discretion to
grant or deny a petitioner's request to postpone a hearing based upon:
(i) the reasons given by the petitioner in
the request,
(ii) the timeliness of
the request,
(iii) whether
petitioner has previously requested and received a postponement,
(iv) any other factor determined to protect
the equitable interests of the parties. If the request is granted, the Chair
shall instruct the Executive Secretary to schedule the appeal for the next
available hearing date pursuant to Subsection
63G-2-403(4)(a).
(c) The Chair will ordinarily deny
a governmental entity's request to postpone the hearing, unless the
governmental entity has obtained the petitioner's prior consent to reschedule
the hearing date.
(12)
If the Committee determines at any time before, or during a hearing, that a
necessary third party must either be added as a party to the appeal or
otherwise be present or testify, the Committee may vote to continue the hearing
to a later date, if necessary, and compel the third party's attendance by way
of a subpoena.
(13) Nothing in this
section precludes the Committee Chair from taking appropriate measures
necessary to maintain the order and integrity of the hearing.
